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Detachable Head shell or Not?

I am in the process to up my game with some phono system tweaking.

I read in these forums of many people here with multiple arms, multiple cartridges and even multiple turntables.  I am guilty of this myself but moderately compared to so many phono hardware diehards here.

All the continued comments on Talea vs. Schroeder vs. Kuzma, Da Vinci, Tri-Planar, etc., etc, on these forums.  And the flavor of the day cartridge.  One easy way to manage the use of many cartridges, easily swapping between them, and getting down to one turntable would be to run with a tonearm that supports removable head shells or arm tubes.  And yet this does not seem to be widely done here.  Is everybody just too proud of all the pretty phono hardware to admire?

Many highly respected arms of the past, FR 64/66, Ikeda, and now Glanz, Kuzma 4-Point, the new Tru-Glider, all with removable heads.  And the Graham and Da Vinci with removable arm tubes.  These products have a huge fan base and yet there seems to be an equal number of those against any extra mechanical couplings and cable junction boxes, din connections, etc.

I can appreciate having two cartridges, one to bring out that addictive lush bloomy performance and another that shows off that clarity and detail “to die for”.  Being able to easily swap between the two, with hopefully only a quick VTF/VTA change, would be mighty nice.  If too painful a process, I can understand the need for two arms here;  like the idea of going through many LPs in an evening and not being obsessed with tweaking the arm for each.  I hope I never get obsessed to do get to that point.  But for different days/nights, to listen to different kinds of music, it could be mighty nice to swap out one cartridge for another in different head shells without the added cluster and cost of oh please, not another tonearm!.  Do a minute or two of tweaking, ONCE, for that listening session, and then enjoy.  There is always the added risk during the uninstall / install process to damage that prized cartridge.

Is running with a tonearm that has a detachable head shell all that sinful / shameful in the audiophile world ……. or not?  I’d like to hear from those who have achieved musical bliss with removable head shell arms and also from those that if asked to try such a product would likely say, “over my dead body”!

John

jafox
goofyfoot's avatar
goofyfoot
1,369 posts
 

As much as I like to talk about tonearms and head shells, I feel no hesitation to share that I strictly rely on a Toyo 45 A 4X5 field camera for my photographic endeavors. A Pentax Zone 5 or 6 spot meter is an absolute must. My two lenses are; Schneider 75 mm and Schneider 210 mm. Anybody got a Singh-Ray 65mm Polarizing LB Color Combo Filter they wanna sell?

Additionally, I’ve been hoping to replace the Thorens TP 16 tonearm on a Franken - Thorens TD 145. My thought was to get a respectable but affordable arm with a fixed head shell that would match up nicely with the EMT mono cartridge. I believe the EMT is a low output cartridge. I have no plans of changing the EMT before the stylus needs replacing.

cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 

Detachable is fine. Easy to try & change cartridges.

As long as you use a 'decent' enough arm, noone here, absolutely noone, will be able to tell the difference in the sonics between a detachable & non detachable headshell.

 

au_lait
338 posts
 

@lewm I’m contemplating having my FR-66s wired from cart clips to phono stage by Richard Mak. Thoughts?

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

@dover ,)))) It works! When my wife met me I had Tympany IIIs. She thinks the Sound Labs are great looking. 

@lewm , as I am pissed at Porsche (long story) I vowed to change brands and was leaning towards McLaren until Corvette went mid engine. I did not like the looks of the Stingray, too boxy. But, when the blew out the fenders for the ZO6 the car became much better looking plus now they have an engine with character. Still no manual though. There are three more models to come. The ZR1 will be a Turbocharged ZO6 with a less track oriented suspension for high speed GT work. It is rumored to have 850HP. Then the Grand Sport which will be a Sting Ray with electric motors on both front wheels and finally the Zora (Zora Arkus-Duntov) which will be a ZR1 with electric front drive, think Porsche 918. That will be a sub 2 second car with a 1/4 in the 9s. The Sting Ray and ZO6 will soldier on. A track car must be rear wheel drive only. My suspicion is that properly optioned a ZR1 will outrun the ZO6 on track. I have a reservation on the ZR1. I like that wave of torque you get from turbo engines. The ZO6 is also a pretty noisy car. The ZR1 will be a bit quieter. Give me that, a Ford Lightening F150 and a couple of Ducati's and I will be set for life.

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

@au_lait , as long as you are using a low compliance cartridge, go for it. Will it sound better? Not one of us can tell you, but it will feel better and is a lot more reasonable than a lot of other rather silly tweaks. 

This is something I do not understand. We are audiophiles. I should think we like tinkering with our tables. I have no problems changing cartridges on a fixed head shell design. Once I have set them up the first time the cartridges are indexed with marks so I can put them in the exact same position without pulling out a jig. It takes not even ten minutes to change cartridges. One BIG help is a locking tonearm rest. It is a terrible hassle and very dangerous to be chasing floating tonearms with a $10K cartridge. Many arms come with them but many do not such as my Schroder which has no rest at all. Frank thinks they resonate. It is a simple matter to mount one on the plinth.  

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